ZAQA will improve education systems – Kaingu

Government says it intends to use the Zambia Qualifications Authority (ZAQA) as one of the tools to improve upon the country’s education systems and structures for human capacity development.

Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education Minister, Michael Kaingu says ZAQA’s framework provides a platform at which government will establish agreed standards of all of the country’s professional qualifications.

Dr. Kaingu states that role of ZAQA therefore is to ensure that its framework performs to the expectation of entire education and training system in accordance with the Act of Parliament under which it has been established.

He says government has also recognized that Zambia’s education and training system cannot operate in isolation from similar developments in the SADC region, the African continent and the World as whole.

Dr. Kaingu notes that this entails that the country’s education and training system will have to be part of this larger cross border process that has been fuelled by the age of Information and Communication Technology.

The Minister said this in a speech read for him by Education Permanent Secretary Chishimba Nkosha this morning at a ZAQA sensitization workshop that has been convened in Lusaka with the objective of sharing information and exploring modalities of developing Qualifications Descriptors that will be registered and accredited on the Zambia Qualifications Framework.

Earlier, ZAQA board Chairperson Namucana Musiwa expressed optimism concerted efforts in addressing the country’s education and training system’s needs will raise standards and promote professionalism.

Ms. Musiwa says this will in turn make appropriate contribution to the development of the country’s economy in a manner that assures stakeholders of desired results.

She says the one day sensitization workshop will thus go a long way in formulating the foundation of upon which the work of ZAQA will be built.